S1 E04 Signals Crossed

07/14/10 | TV-14 | CC

POLICE LOG: 15 Division to initiate a John sweep with undercover officers posing as prostitutes. Suspects must offer money for a sex-related act before an arrest can be made. Rookie officers McNally, Peck and Diaz to serve as fresh faces on the street with a cover team providing backup. Officer Traci Nash to assist Detective Luke Callaghan in the murder investigation for an unidentified college student. Detailed report follows:

Andy, Gail and Chris take to the streets dressed like prostitutes as part of a John sweep to nab anyone attempting to buy a little love. A bummed Dov is banished to squad car duty because Chris looks more like a gay hustler. This is confirmed by Andy, even though Dov shaves his chest. Chris is uncomfortable with the assignment, though that could have something to do with the muscle shirt and way-tight white jeans he’s wearing.

In addition to being a top-notch police detective, Luke Callaghan knows a little something about real estate. He tells Andy that a double homicide can really lower the asking price of the three-bedroom house in her neighborhood. Callaghan also knows he’s falling hard for Andy, who’s thinking Luke is Mr. Perfect even though she bows out of his murder investigation, deferring the case to Traci.

Traci has trouble dealing with the death part of homicide. She even uses sticky notes to cover the autopsy photos of a murder victim. Love those sticky notes! Callaghan assumes the dead kid was a student because of his college jacket, but Traci realizes the coat doesn’t match the rest of his attire. If the jacket’s not his, it explains why no one at the college recognizes him. Identifying this dead guy just got a whole lot tougher.

On the street, Chris is approached by man who isn’t looking for sex. No, he’s searching for his 17-year-old son. The panicked dad thinks his boy may be hooking. He hands a photo to Chris, who promises to keep an eye out for him. Chris eventually locates the man’s son when he peels away one of Traci’s sticky notes back at the station. The young man in the autopsy snapshot matches the one in the photo provided by the dad. Harsh.

As for the ladies, Gail dabbles in the flesh trade nicely and helps collar several prospective Johns. Andy, however, has a tough time strutting her undercover stuff. She drops the ball on a possible bust when an ill-tempered lowlife freaks her out. Later, another potential John outs her as a cop. Dov is also having issues, as he keeps tying up the radio lines with inconsequential updates. Dov does manage to take part in a semi-legit stolen car pursuit. The driver turns out to be Sadie, a frequent hooker collar at the 15.

Andy and Dov are on the hot seat with Sergeant Boyko, who isn’t impressed with their performance. To show some initiative, the rookies make a deal with Sadie, who has info on some gun traffickers. They can’t enter the illegal weapons warehouse without a warrant, so Sadie offers to check things out. When the gun-runners return unexpectedly, Andy has no choice but to go in after her&mdash;alone and unarmed.

Still in her hooker attire, Andy convinces two guys inside that she’s just a girl having car trouble. This story doesn’t fly with a third man. His name is Dean and he’s the same angry lowlife who tried to pick up Andy on the street. Dean tells his two partners to finish loading the guns while he has some fun with the ladies. A panicked Sadie says that Andy is a cop, which prompts Dean to press a loaded gun to the back of her head.

Dov makes his way inside the building where he catches the two other men in a room filled with illegal firearms. He’s unaware of the danger Andy’s in just a few yards away. With Dean becoming increasingly agitated, Andy has no choice but to go for his weapon. BANG! A shot is fired as Andy struggles to wrestle the gun away. Dov storms into the room ordering Dean to drop his gun, which he does. Everyone is safe.

Even though arrests are made, Sam lectures Andy and Dov about putting a civilian’s life in danger just to make the bust. Sadie would have said or done anything to stay out of jail. Sam says, “It’s your job to know why people are saying what they’re saying. You want to be a cop, learn to read the signs.”

Wonder if Andy can pick up the underlying signals Sam appears to be sending out. He seems to be especially concerned that something bad could have happened to her. Yeah, we know it’s partially because he’s her training officer. But don’t you get the sense there’s a little more to it than that?